Long-term Midas user Olivier Lude is touring with French rock singer Matthieu Chedid, aka M, using his very own PRO6 live audio system. Lude, who has worked with M on stage and in the studio since 1996, is using the PRO6 at front of house for the Mister Mystere tour, which has travelled throughout France, Belgium and Switzerland and will end in June at the Zenith concert hall, Paris.
Over on monitors, Julien Decarne is using an XL8 live performance system supplied by rental company Dispatch together with a Klark Teknik DN9696 high resolution audio recorder and DN9331 Rapide graphic EQ controller.
“My decision to work with a Midas PRO6 at FOH for this tour was mainly motivated by a need to move on and evolve towards this technology,” says Lude. “I have worked a lot with analogue consoles throughout the years, mainly the Midas XL4 and the Heritage 3000, and wanted to take the digital step without compromising the audio quality, the dynamics and the integrated effects processing, which had to match Matthieu’s typical instrumentation colour. Having tested several consoles, the PRO6 was a natural choice given its ergonomics and the legendary Midas EQ and preamp sound.
“The PRO6 fulfils all the requirements for this tour, in such a small footprint. Thanks to the exclusive POP(ulation) group function, the 16 faders are optimum for managing the 64 inputs and to control my mute recalls, for example.
“The PRO6’s work surface is very similar to those of its analogue predecessors, while the automation in particular is yet another feature that has helped me to handle the console and configure my own settings very quickly. The effects processing section is truly complete and easy to operate, allowing me to reduce the size of external racks to some EQs and compressors that I always have with me.
“Last but not least, the PRO6 is unrivalled in terms of audio performance. Midas has achieved the best of both worlds in that the console is equally at ease in the studio and on stage.”
Over on monitors, Decarne chose an XL8 for this tour knowing that the front of house desk would be a Midas PRO6. “I was introduced to the XL8 on some Dionysos concerts in Paris two years ago,” he says. Having had much experience with Midas analogue consoles, I felt at home straight away on the XL8’s work surface. The sound quality of the XL8 is undoubtedly faithful to the Midas standards of excellence. I have tried other digital desks and there is no equivalent in terms of pre-amp sharpness. I don’t use the automation much since M and the band don’t use in-ear monitors but have chosen to get the sound directly from the wedges; this gives them a true live feel and a more powerful signal. However, the POPulation group function is an asset to the desk since I have a lot of instrument changes during the show, as well as two drum kits on stage.
“The XL8 has all the best of the analogue world: warmth, accuracy and sharpness in a digital package.”
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